Can MarJon Beauchamp be the Milwaukee Bucks’ Version of Herb Jones?

Although he has not played a minute of NBA basketball, 2022 Milwaukee Bucks draft pick MarJon Beauchamp is already drawing comparisons to standout New Orleans Pelicans rookie Herb Jones. In a widely circulated clip on Twitter, Beauchamp discusses his goals as a NBA player and likens his potential role to the one played by Herb Jones last season. Considering the value Jones brought to the Pelicans, this would be nothing short of tremendous success for the Bucks.

Similarities between Milwaukee Bucks’ MarJon Beauchamp and Herb Jones

Last season, Herb Jones made waves as a second-round rookie for the New Orleans Pelicans. His defense was otherworldly for any player, let alone a rookie, and was largely seen as one of the steals of the draft. That led him to make the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and an argument could be made that he was snubbed from the first team.

Coming out of school, Jones looked like a guy who could defend everyone and their brothers, but lacked any real offensive juice. He had excellent size, standing at 6’8″ with a 7-foot wingspan, and could move his feet to stay in front of people. The term “switchable” gets thrown around a lot these days to the point that it has lost most of its meaning, but if there was a prospect you could comfortably apply that label to, it was Herb Jones.

Similarly, MarJon Beauchamp’s biggest calling card is his abilities on the defensive end, where he utilized his seven-foot wing span to wreak havoc on opposing teams in the G League. Like Jones, not only did Beauchamp operate well as a primary defender, he also used his length and basketball IQ to disrupt actions off the ball and take offenses out of rhythm.

While both were great defensive prospects, both had their fair share of question marks as offensive pieces. In college, Jones was an extremely limited shooter, averaging 29% from deep on less than 1 attempt per game. This was coupled with his on-ball limitations, where his handle and ability to get to the rim and draw contact were well below what is needed to be an NBA on-ball creator.

Unfortunately for the Bucks, MarJon also does not project to be much of an offensive contributor right out of the gate. Last year in the G League, MarJon shot just 24% on 2.8 attempts, a pretty abysmal output. Additionally, he shot only 65% from the free-throw line, which often acts as a good indicator of 3-point shooting potential at the next level.

In sum, Herb and MarJon’s prospect profiles look remarkably similar. With their, height, length, and IQ, both are projected to be impact players on the defensive end at the NBA level. However, with their defensive abilities came their offensive shortcomings. Both players struggled to shoot the ball and could not be real difference makers with the ball in their hands.